dilation and evacuation

dilation and evacuation

n. Abbr. D & E

A surgical abortion performed during the second trimester of pregnancy by dilation of the cervix and removal of the fetus and other products of conception, usually by use of vacuum aspiration and surgical instruments.

Heather Gebelin Hacker, assistant solicitor general for the Texas Attorney General's Office, described the dilation and evacuation procedure as "barbaric," saying with graphic details that fetuses' limbs are torn apart.

"Loosely applied, that law could have been used to make 'criminals' out of a lot of physicians." Indeed, the court notes in its 5-4 decision that although the law was apparently aimed at dilation and extraction, it would also have prohibited dilation and evacuation, the most common method for second-trimester abortions .

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